One of Elia Kazan's ("On The Waterfront"/"A
Streetcar Named Desire") great but neglected films is
this realistic medical noir thriller, set in New
Orleans (filmed on location) about an illegal
immigrant who brings in the pneumonic plague and the
dedicated public health doctor who tracks down the
plague-carriers. It's taken from the story Quarantine,
Some Like 'em Cold by Edna and Edward Anhalt (they won
an Oscar for original story). The screenplay is by
Richard Murphy and Daniel Fuchs.

Illegal immigrant Kochak wins $191 from small-time
gangster Blackie (Jack Palance) and leaves the card
game complaining he doesn't feel well. Blackie wants
his money back and sends his two flunkies, the
obsequious tub of lard Fitch (Zero Mostel) and the
nervous Poldi (Guy Thomajan), after him. After
trapping the frightened foreigner, a relative of
Poldi's, Blackie comes along and puts two bullets in
him and they then dump his body by the docks. In the
morgue, the coroner (George Ehmig) discovers that the
unidentified body is carrying a communicable disease
and notifies Lieutenant Commander Dr. Clinton Reed of
the U.S. Public Health Service. Reed informs the mayor
and police commissioner they have 48 hours to track
down those who have come into contact with the disease
or else it could instigate a wide-spread epidemic.
Reed also warns them to keep the story from the press
to avoid a public panic.

The mayor assigns a resistant and gruff police
Captain Warren (Paul Douglas) to find the killers.
When the captain doesn't seem to be taking the doctor
at his word how serious the problem is, though he does
round up all suspicious characters for questioning,
Reed starts his own search for the killers at the
waterfront and by offering a reward with his own money
(money he was to pay long overdue bills at his wife's
request) he locates the smuggler who brought the
illegal in. The dependable police captain and the
earnest doctor now team up to hunt down the three
killers of the illegal alien, which results in an
exciting chase through a dockside warehouse and out on
the dock where the rats are captured before they could
sneak aboard a ship.

The film maintains its suspense as it cuts back and
forth between the lonely figure of the Public Health
doctor, dressed in a navy uniform, and the murderers,
who can't understand why there's such an intensive
manhunt over their insignificant crime. It is
mentioned that rats are responsible for passing on the
disease, and it's interesting to note how the story
alludes to rats as being similar to criminals because
they both pose a menace to society's health. It's also
interesting to note how Kazan implies bringing in
suspects for questioning is not a violation of the
Constitution if it's done for the public good (this
would hold to his belief that it was OK for the House
of Un-American committee to question those it
suspected of being Communists).

The top-notch cast all turn in superlative
performances. Kazan sharply directs this no-nonsense
story in a semi-documentary style that pleasingly
captures the action while it also presents an
intelligent and imaginative story. REVIEWED ON
12/20/2004
GRADE: A